RECAP: Late comeback comes up short in Texans home debut

It was a loss, but there was some good to come out of it.

The game started off on a good note when the Colts immediately coughed up the ball to the Houston Texans on the first play of the game. But that is where the early good Texans news ends. Because on their first drive, the Colts, on the strength of Anthony Richardson’s legs, got out to a 7-0 lead to start.

Then the Texans gave up the ball after quarterback C.J. Stroud fumbled it deep in Texans territory. The very next play Richardson ran in for another touchdown, putting the Colts up 14-0.

Fortunately, Stroud would make up for it by throwing the first touchdown of his NFL career to Nico Collins (who had a terrific receiving day today), cutting the Colts lead in half 14-7.

Richardson would leave the game with a concussion, leading to Gardner Minshew playing the rest of the game.

Unfortunately for the Texans, this would not be a good sign for them. Zack Moss would run another touchdown in, putting the game entirely out of reach 21-7. Ka’imi Fairbairn would come in and kick a 29 yard field goal to put the Texans down 11 21-10.

The Colts would score again after a Minshew pass to Kylan Granson which was initially ruled out of bounds at the 2-yard line but would be overturned by the ref, resulting in a touchdown, putting the Colts up 28-10.

The Colts would then put a field goal up in the third quarter, going up 31-10.

Then the Texans tried their traditional fourth quarter comeback starting with a 36-yard Fairbairn FG.

Stroud would then connect with fellow rookie Tank Dell on a 23-yard touchdown pass to cut the Colts lead down to 11.

That, unfortunately, is as close as the Texans would get today as Fairbairn would have his first of two tries blocked (negated by a Colts penalty) followed by a shank wide right of the uprights.

And that is how the game would end for the Texans, with a 31-20 loss to the Colts.

But while the end result was disappointing and unsurprising, there were some positives to it.

C.J. Stroud is legit and once this team gets its starting offensive line, you know the one that was supposed to be a strength for this team for the first time since the Kubiak era, back on the field, this offense is going to look way different from previous versions of the Texans of the 20s.

That said, the defense today left a lot, and I do mean a lot, to be desired.

But there’s always next week. See y’all next week for the Jags game.